The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coreopsis plant, botanically of hybrid origin and known as Coreopsis ‘Cosmic Eye’ and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, ‘Cosmic Eye’. The new cultivar of Coreopsis is an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape and container use.
The new Invention arose from an ongoing controlled breeding program in Hubbardston, Mass. The objective of the breeding program is to develop hybrid cultivars of Coreopsis with unique and superior garden attributes. In particular, to develop cultivars that are long-lived, sturdy, exhibit a true perennial habit and cold hardy to at least U.S.D.A Zone 5 in a wide range of flower colors and plant forms. The Inventor collected seed in the wild from five different species that are not commercialized and made six generations of crosses to produced interspecific hybrids to utilize in his breeding work.
The Inventor made a controlled cross in September of 2006 in his test garden in Hubbardston, Mass. between an unnamed sibling of Coreopsis ‘Redshift’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,412) as the female parent and an unnamed sibling of Coreopsis ‘Full Moon’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,364) as the male parent. ‘Cosmic Eye’ was selected in summer 2007 as a single unique plant amongst the resulting seedlings.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in Hubbardston, Mass. in August of 2007 by the Inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.